Ex-Prison Guard Trainee Receives Death Sentence for Murdering Five Women at Florida Bank

A former prison guard trainee who murdered five women inside a Florida bank nearly six years ago was sentenced to death on Monday, with the judge describing the killings as calculated, heinous, and cruel.

Zephen Xaver, 27, appeared to swallow hard but did not display any emotion as Circuit Judge Angela Cowden delivered the sentence at the Highlands County Courthouse in Sebring. Following a two-week penalty trial, a jury voted 9–3 in June to recommend that Cowden impose the death penalty for Xaver.

Cowden stated that Xaver’s weeks of planning before the 2019 murders at Sebring’s SunTrust bank, the magnitude of the crime, and the terror experienced by the victims as they were shot significantly outweighed the numerous mitigating factors presented by his attorneys, which included his mental health history, a benign brain tumor, and his adoption of Christianity while in jail.

“May God have mercy on your soul,” Cowden told Xaver.

Xaver pleaded guilty last year to five counts of first-degree murder for killing customers Cynthia Watson, 65; bank teller coordinator Marisol Lopez, 55; banker trainee Ana Pinon-Williams, 38; teller Debra Cook, 54; and banker Jessica Montague, 31.

At gunpoint, Xaver ordered the women to lie on the floor before shooting each of them in the head as they begged for their lives.

Kiara Lopez expressed to Xaver and the court that her mother, Marisol, had greeted him warmly at the bank, a gesture he repaid with murder.

“You shattered me into a million pieces,” Lopez declared. “I will celebrate the day you die, whenever that may be. It should be known that you will forever be a killer, a coward, a nobody, and a waste of human life.”

Michael Cook, Debra’s husband, echoed the sentiment, labeling Xaver a coward and telling the judge, “I feel no sympathy for him whatsoever.”

Jane McNeill, Xaver’s lead public defender, urged Cowden to consider sparing her client, arguing that a life sentence would conclude matters rather than extend them over a decade of appeals and potential retrials if the conviction was overturned.

“The only way for this case to be resolved so that the victims’ families and community can begin to heal is through a life sentence,” McNeill contended. The sentence will automatically be appealed.

Under a new Florida law, death sentences can now be imposed by a jury vote of 8–4 instead of requiring unanimity. This change was enacted after the 2018 Parkland high school shooter could not receive the death penalty for murdering 17 people, despite a 9–3 jury recommendation. McNeill challenged the constitutionality of the new law.

Xaver relocated to Sebring, a town of approximately 11,000, in 2018 from the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana. In 2014, his high school principal alerted the police after Xaver shared with peers that he had dreams about harming classmates. His mother pledged to ensure he received psychological assistance.

He enlisted in the Army in 2016. A former girlfriend, whom he met in a mental health facility, reported that he claimed joining the military was an opportunity to kill people without consequence. The Army discharged him after just three months. In 2017, a woman in Michigan reported him for sending text messages indicating he might attempt “suicide by cop” or take hostages.

Despite his mental health issues and expulsion from the Army, Xaver was employed as a guard trainee in November 2018 at a prison near Sebring. He resigned two months later, mere weeks before the shootings and the day after purchasing his firearm.

Hours leading up to the murders, Xaver engaged in a lengthy, sporadic text conversation with a former girlfriend in Connecticut, conveying sentiments like “this is the best day of my life,” yet refusing to elaborate. Just 15 minutes before the attack, he texted her, “I’m dying today.”

From the bank parking lot, he sent another message saying, “I’m taking a few people with me because I’ve always wanted to kill people, so I am going to try it and see how it goes. Look out for me on the news.”

By Terry Spencer